The present invention is directed to the field of roofing shingles, more particularly to a multi-layered shingle that when laid in an array of plural courses will have the appearance of a wood shingle roof.
The present invention relates to a unique shingle covering, such as for application to a roof, that includes multiple layers, such as a triple thick and double thick sections. Single ply shingles, where a conventional material be asphalt, and the like, have been a staple of the residential construction business for a number of years, where a typical roof may comprise a plywood paneled base covered by a tar paper, usually provided in a continuous roll, followed by the application of plural courses of shingles in overlapping relationship. Such a practice is quite widespread as it provides an effective water seal to the structure, and it is generally economical, i.e., an efficient roofing system. Later, other roof covering systems were developed, such as wood, and slate, which gave to the structure a new and different appearance. The development of these alternate systems spurred the roofing industry to modify the traditional roofing shingles to give them the appearance of wood shingles, and to avoid objectionable repetition patterns. U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,702 represents an attempt to improve the appearance of a shingle. Such patent is directed to a five-tab strip shingle having a base with rectangular tabs of varying widths and lengths extending from the base. When conventionally placed on a roof structure, the different courses avoid objectionable repeating patterns. U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,387 is another roofing shingle that is intended to simulate a slate roof covering by the use of plural tabs with different widths and lengths.
Recognizing the commercial need to improve the appearance of shingle like roof coverings, especially as to simulating a different kind of shingle, the prior art developed multi-layered shingles. Such prior art is reflected in the following U.S. Patents:
a) U.S. Pat. No. 3,624,975 which teaches an asphalt strip shingle intended to simulate the irregularity and attendant shadow effects or material variations in dimensions found in wood shingles. The strip shingle comprises a laminate consisting of a first or base lamina, and a second or apron overlay lamina, where the latter consists of male and female strips. The base lamina is essentially rectangular in shape, whereas the respective overlay lamina feature a base with plural, downwardly extending tabs whose side edges are combinations of perpendicular and non-perpendicular to the base. When laminated to the base lamina, certain of such tabs extend below the lower edge of the base lamina. Further, when the laminated shingle is secured in overlapping relationship, as with conventional shingles, an irregular simulated wood shingle results.
b) U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,100 is directed to a shingle making machine to form a shingle from two shingle members, where the machine takes a continuous web of shingle material and cuts the web to define a series of sets of shingle members. The shingle members comprise a base with plural tabs extending there from. The cut shingle members are then conveyed to a laminating station, where they are laminated to an underlay to form a laminated shingle.
c) U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,614 relates to a composite shingle comprising a first portion having a base with plural tabs extending there from, and a second continuous, narrowed portion secured to and underlying the respective tabs. By this arrangement, in section, the tabs are thicker than the base.
d) U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,942 teaches a three level shingle formed of bituminous coated glass mats. More precisely, the resulting shingle includes a single base layer and two levels or layers for the tabs extending from the base.
e) U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,263 is directed to a thickened reinforced roofing shingle that is described as a rectangular, shingle having front and rear stepped edges and an undivided headlap portion and a butt portion horizontally divided into dissimilarly shaped, space-separated, snaggle toothed tabs integral with, and extend from the bottom portion of said headlap and which are recessed from the side edges of said headlap.
f) U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,162 is essentially identical to the trilaminated roofing shingle of U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,942, except it does not glue on a backer strip for a triple thickness look. The backer strip is inverted and glued, then cut to produce a laminate having cut-out areas between the remaining tabs. It is the object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for making a laminated roofing shingle in a continuous operation.
The foregoing inventions, while offering a multi-layered shingle to enhance the appearance of a roof, do not present a convenient way to provide a multi-layered shingle that features a cross section for a unitary shingle having three layers adjacent two layers. The manner by which the present invention achieves this unique construction, and hence a different shingled roof for the building industry, will become clearer in the following specification, particularly when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The present invention relates to an asphalt, or similar type of material, shingle roof covering which when applied to a roof will have the appearance of a wood shingle roof. The final shingle is made from a single planar mat, then folded and/or processed into a triple thick shingle. The planar mat comprises a body portion defined by first and second lateral edges, plural elongated tabs of different widths extending from the first lateral edge, and plural stub tabs transversely offset from and extending from the second lateral edge. For the operational or placement mode for the shingle, the elongated tabs are double folded, along a precut or score line, with a first fold being 180 degrees at the first lateral edge, followed by a reverse bend of 180 degrees back upon itself. A second major bend occurs laterally through the body portion towards the folded tabs, where each stub tab is arranged to lie in a space between the folded tabs. This results in a shingle having a 3-layer portion and a 2-layer portion, with a tapered or thick dimensional look on top of a backer strip, i.e., body portion.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is the provision of a multi-layered shingle that when placed in an array of courses along a roof simulates the appearance of a wood shingle roof.
Another object of the invention is a one-piece shingle that has no backer strip that may fall off if not nailed properly.
A further object hereof is a shingle having a triple thick overlay and a double thick headlap portion.
These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent in the description which follows.